There's one for you, nineteen for me

First, a little campaign SAB for ya:

Democrat Mark Lakers, announcing his candidacy for Governor and The Office's Dwight Schrute, announcing himself:

On that note, Governor Dave Heineman stated that he has raised a total of $1.6 million for his reelection campaign. Lakers wouldn't release his numbers to the OWH. (Because they were too awesome?)

***

The Omaha City Council will choose the person who will take the District 7 seat, which was resigned by Chuck Sigerson.

We sent out a guesstionaire to a list of Omaha politicos, and from what we got back, 50% say Jeri Regan will get the nod (followed by 25% who think Gary Kudym). And one person suggested Steve Kraft, after a few deadlocked rounds (just to get the political juices flowing).

Of course, getting the nod from the council is one thing. Getting (re)elected by the voters is a whole 'nother.

**UPDATE!**

And it goes to Republican Thomas Mulligan! Well, ain't that a corker.
FWIW, we had ONE responder come up with Mulligan. (And that person knows who that person is...)

***

Be sure to read this NYT story about how the new health care law may just screw Members of Congress and Congressional staffers out of their health care coverage.

The gist is that the Congressional Research Service wrote an 8,100 word memo trying to explain that the new law is not clear, but that various staffers and Members may be S.O.L. on their coverage.

Now...do you think that was their intention when this thing was written and voted on?
Of course not.

So do you think Members of Congress really have any idea what the real implications of that monstrosity are going to be on the general public?
Of course not.

But hey, it HAD to be crammed down everyone's throat as quickly as possible! Right?  Right?

(Well, that's what Senator Nelson and candidate Tom White, among others, have told you.)

***

On a personal note, we here on Leavenworth Street have been working on our taxes lately.

Oh, and by the way, doing taxes BLOWS.

Is that clear enough?

So after you've balled up that frustration and anger of just doing your taxes -- and then tighten it up if you had to write a check as well -- look for a vessel to express those emotions.

And now you see where the Tea Party movement comes from.

For many people they get that frustration out of them after a day or two and move on with their lives. Others look for something or somewhere to focus their efforts. After not wanting to bother with the official political parties (as we talked about in a recent post) they jump to the gigs with speakers and music and sign waving.

That is a pretty basic way of looking at what is going on. And it will come to a head on April 15th.
But will it dissipate afterwards? We will see.

***

And by the way, though a certain candidate states in his campaign advertising that:

Independents or 'Non-Partisans' CAN vote in the primary for Matt. Just ask for the Republican Congressional Ballot.

This is 100% 50% incorrect. One must be a registered Republican, or registered as "Non-Partisan" to vote in the Republican primary.  A registered Independent cannot vote in the primary.

We're here to help.

**Update**

A commenter references the Nebraska Voter Registration Application, which states:

Note: If you wish to vote in both partisan and non-partisan primary elections for state and local offices, you must indicate a political party affiliation on the registration application.

If you register without a political party affiliation (non-partisan) you will receive only non-partisan ballots for state and local offices at the primary elections.

If you register without a political party affiliation, you may vote in partisan primary elections for congressional offices.

(Emphasis ours.)

Registered Independents don't get to vote in the GOP primary.

**UPDATE UPDATE**

From Election Commissioner Dave Phipps (assuming it's the real him) in the Comments section:

Here's the deal on voting in the Primary. There are two recognized parties in Nebraska: Republican and Democrat. If you do not wish to register with either party, you can choose to be nonpartisan (no party affiliation). There is no such thing as being registered as an "independent."


In the case of Republicans, you will see Lee and Matt's name on the ballot, plus all the other partisan races. You will also vote for all nonpartisan offices (Legislature, School Board, etc) as well as bond issues and state issues.


If you are a nonpartisan voter, you will not see any partisan races at all. You will be able to vote on nonpartisan races and bond and state issues. You may request a Republican or Democrat Federal Ballot which includes U.S. House and U.S. Senate races on it (there is no Senate race this year). So, if you ask for the Republican Federal Ballot, you will be able to vote for Lee or Matt.


I hope that helps clear up the confusion.

To the extent we've added to any confusion, we apologize.

But we'd still ask, what happens if a person fills in the "Other" blank provided on the form and enters, say, "Nebraska Party", or enters "Independent" or "Independent Party" in that blank?  That's registering with a political affiliation and should restrict you from voting in either the Dem or GOP primary.

Ah well.  Rock on.